Two Rifles For your State?

If I could only have 2 rifles they would be 30-06 and .22. I shoot .22's all the time and I don't think I have ever killed anything that a 30-06 couldn't have, in any State. Last time I hunted with one was in the '90's though, so there are lots of other choices that can work as well.

For my state exclusively I'd pick .22LR which would be for practice & squirrels, and I'll stick with .270 for the rest.

Smallest things I hunt are squirrels, largest is mulies, varmint bullets in the .270 will take care of yotes.

For Missouri, I would have to go with 3 rifles since there is such a difference in terrain between northern half and southern half of the state. Of course one would be a .22 for small game. The 30-30 is perfect for hunting the Ozarks since most shots will be short range. In the open fields of northern Missouri, I would go with 308/30-06 or something based off either. Yes you could use 3-8/30-06 in the Ozarks but kind of a waste to me for such short distances.

Florida: any good, rough-and-tumble hog gun, like a lever .30-30 or even a Mosin Nagant...

..and an AR or AK-type, well, because we still can.

I grew up in Kentucky and now live in Tennessee, but I’m making the same choice for both. Both states have vastly different eastern and western areas.

Eastern area is dominated by thick rough terrain and even thicker woods. A lever gun is a good choice due to quick sighting and handling being important. 30-30 works well, and for a 30-30 I prefer a marlin 336. An AR15 would do just as well if it had good basic iron sights or a red dot sight, but being old school I’m going with the lever, but I keep looking to the lighter weight and plastic stocks of the AR as a gun that can get beat up without causing any heartache over a scraped stock.

Western areas are much more flat and open. Much of the ground is fairly open woods, or crop fields. A scoped bolt action rifle is a good fit here because at longer range you need a more precise way to aim. I picked a .270 as a 15 yr old kid and I have never regretted that choice, though I have wondered if buying a Remington was the right choice or not. A lot of my friends had 7mag or 30-06, I despised the 7 mag as a loud and obnoxious rifle that only served a purpose of getting an extra 100 yards of useful range for people that already couldn’t use the effective range that they had with a much more moderate rifle. Any 30-06 family case is perfectly fine, and now any .308 family case is fine, but pick a bolt rifle and put decent optics on it.

Little critters can die by shotgun, the states are too diverse to pick a 22 when only 2 rifles are allowed.

Mo

.223

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6.5 Creedmoor!

I live in north central Minnesota so its rifle zone for deer hunting here, but southern Minnesota is shotgun only. The moose are virtually gone from Minnesota so the largest thing to hunt really is black bear. I would actually not be put out to go with 1 rifle, my AR15. Assuming I'm allowed to swap uppers. I have a 358 yeti upper that I deer hunt with that would also be my choice to bear hunt with. I have a 7.62x39 upper that is a tack driver. I have deer hunted with that as well and it would also make an good varmint rifle within 300 yards. I have a 20" 223 upper which I hunt coyotes with. A 9mm upper for plinking. And I don't currently have one but I could get a 22lr upper for it as well. Also if I were to swap a pistol brace on it and get a pistol length upper I could even hunt in the southern Minnesota shotgun zone because they allow handguns to be used in shotgun zone. That pretty well covers all the bases except for a muzzle loader.

I could also cover all my bases with my thompson center contender. Maybe a 20" 22lr barrel, a 17HMR barrel, a 223 barrel, a 357 maximum pistol barrel, a 30/40 krag barrel, and a 45 caliber muzzleloader barrel,

In KS, a 3 rifle battery would get the job done with no concessions.

22LR for small game
223/5.56 for coyotes
6creed for deer and Pronghorn

Conceding to the rules of this game, and conceding that longer shots would be more restricted, a 22LR and a 243LBC would leave me well fed in KS.

Elk largely aren’t terribly realistic here any more, only hunted in a few select areas with exceptionally small draws. Pronghorn rifle tags are a tough sell these days compared to when I was younger as well, but it’s still moderately possible.

I spent a handful of years living in TX, for which most deer and hog hunting was well served with a 223/5.56, but my pairing above would fare very well. However, in my current situation, the many opportunities for exotics in TX would be enticing. This game varies wildly, so I’d be hard pressed to say I think or even 3 rifles could cover every species offered by the state of TX.

I also lived part time in MN for much of my young life, and my corporate headquarters for my last two jobs, >10yrs, has been there. I live and work in the south, which means rifles for coyotes, but shotguns or pistols for deer. In that case, 22LR, 223/5.56, and a 7-08AI specialty pistol would be my 2 rifle + 1 pistol hunting battery. I do have some friends up north and have gone after bruins a few times there, typically not large enough to outclass the 7-08, so I’d probably stick with it. Or justify a 4th, as a 300PRC, just to convince myself I’d run across one of those record breaking black bears MN occasionally yields.

I’ve worked in several states for nearly 20 years, with opportunity to hunt in most of them, and have traveled to a few others just for hunts. IA, WI, MI, ID, NY, OR, AZ, MO, NE, SD, ND, IN, IL, OH, NC, MN, TX, OK, CO, SC, GA, & FL. Barring specific state restrictions, a 22 LR, 243LBC (6 creed for states not allowing AR’s), and 300PRC would be well served.

I’ve actually hunted these states with 223/5.56, 243win, and 300wm (among a handful of others), and substituting my more recent preferences of 6 creed and 300 PRC is a relatively simple matter. When I go out of state, those are the cartridges which bring me confidence, and have delivered on the various game I’ve asked of them.

For my use in West Texas, 22 LR and 6.5 CM (or equivalent).

Only two rifles? Not enough to even get off the porch with.

Born and raised in Idaho. Been hunting here, north and south, east and west since I was knee high (well over 60 years ago) and I’ve never seen any hunting here that can’t be handled with a 22 or a 30-06. Of course my dad would have said a “22 or a 308” (Winchester) and he would have been right too.
It’s nice to have choices. I have a couple of nice 22LR rifles to choose from, and of course my custom 308 Norma Magnum is my current choice for a big game rifle - while my old Ruger 30-06 sits in the safe. However, I sure do like having an out-and-out varmint rifle too. I have a real sweet Kimber 22-250 that works great on coyotes and such.

Realistically there's a few types of hunting around here I do:
black bear (either as predator calling or concurrent with an elk tag/gut pile hunt)
elk
mule deer (rarely)
pronghorn (rarely)
rabbit or squirrel (with a shotgun)
coyote and some other varmints

This doesn't really map well onto 3 rifles as it requires a stopping rifle for the predator call hunts, a western hunting rifle, and a varmint rifle. You can try to combine whichever two you want, and you'll get a bad compromise no matter what.

.22lr- just for fun, and private property. Isnt legal for anything else here.

6.5CM-everything else.

Actually, theres probably nothing in the world i want to hunt, that i couldnt comfortably with that combination.

The actual 3-gun battery I use is a .50-110 1886, a 7mm WSM Kimber 8400 Classic, and a 6mm Ackley Browning B78. And a Connecticut Shotgun RBL 20ga for the mixed bag hunting. Sometimes I swap out the 7mm WSM for a .325 WSM if I'm worried about bear while elk hunting.

Heck, for my state (Ohio) I could pare it down to one:

My Savage 24 22mag/20ga.

The 22WMR for squirrels to yotes, and the 20ga for birds and deer.

Where's the fun in that though?
I think I'd take a 16" 450bushmaster AR and a nice CZ 22WMR.

For Idaho, I don't think you can do it all with 2 rifles. You need a 22 of course, then if you want to go prairie dogging or coyote hunting, you need a varmint round like a 223, 22-250, etc, then for elk or moose in the mountains up north you're looking at something like a 7 Mag. And ideally you'd want to have something smaller than a 7 Mag for mule deer, although it has and will work.

California - lead is the first consideration, as it is banned for just about any kind of hunting. So while I normally would pick a .22 first, they are off the list for me.

So I guess I'd want a gun with reach and flat trajectory for desert and plains, and a lightweight for the death marches that often characterize public land hunting here.

For the former, I like the .257 Weatherby, and I guess I'd use a Mark V Deluxe for it. For pigs at 200-300 yards (which may be the most common shot at the most common animal here, at least for me) I think the combo would be just right. I think I would depend on the 100 grain TTSX for most things.

For the latter, I've always wanted a NULA Model 20 "Ultimate Mountain Rifle". I'd have to think hard about which cartridge, but my starting point and maybe ending point would be .308 - though things like the .260 always catch my eye...

For rural southeastern Arizona, I think I'd take a .22 Mag and a 6.5CM or 7mm08.
Unless I plan to do a lot of plinking, I'd like the extra knockdown power of a .22 Mag over a .22 LR. Probably nothing better than a Winchester 9422 (iron sights) in .22 Mag if predators (coyotes/skunks) invade the chicken coop. All around very handy rifle.
For longer range or mule deer, a good bolt action scoped rifle in 6.5 CM or 6.5x55 would suffice. If I'm minded to drive a few hours to hunt elk, I'd bump that up to a 7mm08. Maybe still a little light for elk, but I don't think I'd want the recoil of a .30 for coyotes, rabbits and targets at ranges requiring a scope.

Edited to include targets, an enjoyable portion of my rifle usage.

Mosin Bubba said:

For Idaho, I don't think you can do it all with 2 rifles. You need a 22 of course, then if you want to go prairie dogging or coyote hunting, you need a varmint round like a 223, 22-250, etc, then for elk or moose in the mountains up north you're looking at something like a 7 Mag. And ideally you'd want to have something smaller than a 7 Mag for mule deer, although it has and will work.

Click to expand...

Idaho also, and you can do it all with 2 rifles. A 22 and a 30-06. I've killed everything from a pronghorn to an Alaskan bull moose with a 30-06, and more mule deer than I can recall. It doesn't have excessive recoil but has enough range to reach out for the longer shots we see out here. A 22 may not be ideal as a varmint round but it would work acceptably well, and where you need a bit more you could find a low recoil '06 load that wouldn't be too unpleasant.

That's very easy for Texas: a .22 and a .270. However, I'm just happy life isn't so boring.

Kansas, 22lr for squirrels, bunnies and fun. 6.5 Swede loaded with 85s for varmints and 140's for the rest.

thank God I dont have to follow such a decree...

Hmm, for Texas, probably a .270 and a .223--but an argument might be made for a small thirty, like .30-30 or 7.62x39 as that's a perfect pig caliber.
There's another argument for a serious varmint set up if a person were in the Panhandle; another for .22lr in the Piney Woods of East Texas. Or down to the bayous of SE Texas.
But, that's just my 2¢